Orannis
Orannis is the greatest of the Nine Bright Shiners; he was a Free Magic being from before The Beginning and the creation of the Charter. He is named 'The Destroyer' due to the nature of his powers and his hatred of all life. History Orannis, along with the other Nine Bright Shiners, existed before Time and the creation of the Charter. He was one of the 9 Free Magic Beings who had conscious thought and great power, with his power being the greatest of the nine. However, he hated all life and wanted to destroy it. Six times, the world was created, and six times, Orannis destroyed it once more. When the world was created anew for a seventh time, however, the Seven (Ranna, Mosrael, Kibeth, Dyrim, Belgaer, Saraneth, and Astarael) decided that he had to be stopped and gathered support against him, whilst Orannis called forth his allies, Free Magic creatures who abhorred Life. Both sides asked for Yrael's support, but he remained neutral. The seven chose the new world as their battleground, and here they successfully defeated Orannis; however, he was far too strong to be destroyed without Yrael's support, so they bound him. He was forced to accept a single shape - a sphere of silver, which was split into two hemispheres. They could not be bought close to each other and were buried under the earth, with 7 wards: silver, gold, lead, rowan, ash, oak, and bone. Powers and Manifestations Orannis had more power than any other being in existence. It took seven beings of near-omnipotent power to bind him. His powers are rooted in the destructive side and he exists as a source of magic itself. It is unknown how much control he has over the dead. We can assume that he is their ultimate master, because his aims and attitudes are similar to theirs, and they respond to his call. "To me, my servants!" shouted the voice from Nick, a voice far louder and more horrible than could come from any human throat. It carried even over the thunder, rolling out across the valley. All the Dead heard, even those who still labored stupidly on the ropes, and they all hurried, a tide of rotten flesh that flowed around both sides of the pit, rushing towards the beacon of the burning tent, where their ultimate Master called. Others heard it too, though they were farther away than any sound could carry. Hedge cursed and turned aside to slay an unlucky horse, so that he could make a mount that would not shy to carry him. Many leagues to the east, Chlorr turned away from the riverbank near Abhorsen's House and began to run, a great shape of fire and darkness that moved faster than any human legs could take her." [[Abhorsen (book)|''Abhorsen]] He has nine manifestations, each one with a destructive effect getting stronger with each subsequent manifestation (the culmination of which was the destruction of the world which he inhabited). He takes the shape of a silver sphere during his second manifestation (after which he at his weakest). Only his first two manifestations are known: The First: A flaming pillar of Fire with intense heat and free magic, but not wide range destruction. "Fierce light of the column of fire. Vast as that roaring column was, Lirael knew it was only the first and least of the nine manifestations of the Destroyer's power. Worse was to come, and soon." [[Abhorsen (book)|Abhorsen]] The Second: It succeeds the column of fire, with the sphere ascending to the top of the pillar, releasing huge amounts of light. 9 seconds later, it explodes outwards with a huge wave of destructive energy, which vaporizes nearly everything in its path. This explosion releases a forceful shock wave, followed by gusts of incredibly hot air, and finally sends debris flying. The inevitable death that results from exposure can be mostly mitigated by 3 concentric Diamonds of Protection. The second manifestation seems to be the start of the true destruction, but the range is very limited. It is assumed that each successive form destroys a bigger area. * "Fierce light of the column of fire. Vast as that roaring column was, Lirael knew it was only the first and least of the nine manifestations of the Destroyer's power." * "Behind her a shining silver globe-the joined hemispheres-ascended to the sky atop the column of fire. As it rose, the sphere grew brighter and brighter till it was more brilliant than the sun had ever been. It hovered high in the air for a few seconds, as if surveying the ground, then sank back out of sight. For nine very long seconds, Lirael waited, her eyes screwed shut, her face pushed into her very dirty sleeve. She knew what was to come, but it did not help her. The explosion came as she counted nine, a blast of white-hot fury that annihilated everything in the loch valley. The mill and the railway were vaporized in the first flash. The loch boiled dry an instant later, sending a vast cloud of superheated steam roaring to the sky. Rocks melted, trees became ash, the birds and fishes simply disappeared. The lightning rods flashed into molten metal that was hurled high into the air, to fall back as deadly rain. The blast sheared the top of the ridge completely off, destroying earth, rocks, lightning rods, trees, and everything else. Anything left that could burn did, till it was extinguished seconds later by the wind and the steam. The outermost diamond of protection took what was left of the blast after it destroyed the protective earth of the hill. The magical defense flared for an instant, then was gone. The second diamond had the hot wind and the steam that could strip flesh from bone. It lasted only seconds till it too gave way. The third and final diamond held for more than a minute, repelling a hail of stones, molten metal, and debris. Then it also failed, but not until the worst had passed." [[Abhorsen (book)|Abhorsen'']] Binding ''"As all living things must fail, till silence rings me in eternal calm, across a sea of dust. "And now another Seven comes, all a-clamor to lock Orannis once more in metal, deep under earth. But can a Seven of such watered blood and thinner power prevail against the Destroyer, last and mightiest of the Nine?" '' It takes at least 7 hugely powerful beings to bind Orannis - using the power of the Charter. The Great Bloodlines, imbued with the seven's power, are capable of recreating the spell using the bells (which contain the voices of the 7) but the power is diluted. It must take place after Orannis' second manifestation, when he takes the form of a giant Silver Sphere, and is at his weakest. It takes 6 of the Great Bloodlines - each standing as one of the Original Seven (Lirael (Astarael), Sabriel (Saraneth), Prince Sameth (Belgaer), Ellimere (Dyrim), Sanar & Ryelle (Mosrael), Torrigan/King Touchstone (Ranna)), left-over power of Kibeth and a newly-freed Yrael to succeed in binding Orannis anew. They must ring Orannis with their bodies, each holding one of the bells of the blood (as shown previously) and draw a Charter Mark of binding, to create the binding spell. This creates a magical ring which constricts Orannis and binds him as his silver sphere form. However, whilst he remains whole, he cannot be long bound so he must be split. This was done by Astarael originally and Lirael in the second binding. It is done with a magical sword imbued with the power of the Bloodlines and the Seven - but the blade is inimical to the user. It acts as a conduit between Orannis and the wielder when it cuts him in half - enabling him to destroy them. He focuses his power on Lirael but the Disreputable Dog bites off her hand (where the power is pooling) and takes the full force of Orannis' ire. It ages her and she reverts to a Soapstone form quickly. The Sphere then separates into 2 hemi-spheres with a repulsion (similar but stronger than magnets) between them. Bound When Orannis is bound, he is forced apart by a 25 foot ''needed ''repulsion, although the wards reduce this (Silver, Gold, Lead, Rowan, Ash, Oak and Bone). He has very little access to his powers, but his power can be wielded by servants (he has a servant who harnesses the power to avert the Clayr's sight). He can also possess people to a degree (a shard of the Destroyer exists in Nicholas Sayre, which gives Orannis complete control over his body & Chlorr drinks of the water close to Orannis, causing her to be possessed). His form causes storms to occur over him - 8 lightning strikes will hit the hemispheres and 1 will miss. This is because great electrical charge will allow the hemispheres to overcome the repulsion. There are variety of failsafes to stop this (i.e. there will never be enough storms to produce that much electricity) so Orannis has to build a Lightning Farm to harness the storms power. This can only occur, though, in Ancelstierre because he can't be rejoined in the Old Kingdom - he must be joined somewhere he never existed to overcome the bonds. Summary from Wikipedia Orannis (also known as the Destroyer) was the Ninth Bright Shiner, and the most powerful. Its nature is to destroy, hence the name Destroyer. When It was going to destroy yet another world in the Beginning, the Seven finally banded together against It, and bound It. It was the strongest of the Nine, and only barely defeated by the Seven. It was cast into two hemispheres, buried under a hill within seven wards of various materials; silver, gold, and lead; rowan, ash and oak; and the seventh ward of bone. Category:Nine Bright Shiners Category:Old Kingdom Series Category:Characters Category:Villains